The  Gospel  for  the  World 

Sermon 

by  the 


Rev.  WM.  HENRY  ROBERTS.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Moderator 


The  Gospel  for  the  World 


SERMON 
by  the 

Rev.  WM.  HENRY  ROBERTS,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Moderator 


At  the  Opening  of  the  120th  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  U.  S.  A. 

Kansas  City,  Mo. 

May  21,  1908 

T 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 
1908 


“The  Gospel  for  the  World.” 


“For  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.”  (John  iii  : 16.) 


These  words  are  the  old  but  ever  new  story,  new  in  every  individual 
Christian  experience,  and  in  the  history  of  the  successive  Christian  generations. 
Coming  from  lips  clothed  with  divine  authority  they  appeal  to  men  every- 
where, whatever  their  circumstances,  and  are  appropriate  to  both  personal  and 
worldwide  conditions.  The  ideas  contained  in  them  are  great  beyond  all 
adequate  comprehension;  but  when  accepted  as  truths  their  entrance  into  the 
mind  involves  mental  expansion,  satisfying  knowledge  and  the  inspiration  of  a 
deathless  hope.  Divine  in  their  source,  they  are  in  their  application  the 
supply  of  deepest  human  needs.  The  heart  of  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God, 
they  reveal  the  divine  purpose  in  the  advent  of  Jesus  Christ  upon  earth,  and 
the  mission  which  He  fulfills  in  and  through  His  disciples  and  His  Church. 

Our  subject  is  “The  Gospel  for  the  World.”  In  the  consideration  of  this 
subject,  thought  will  be  developed  along  the  lines  naturally  suggested  by  the 
text.  The  ideas  contained  therein  are  familiar  to  all,  and  their  restatement 
will  be  profitable  in  dew  of  present  religious  conditions. 

I.  Consider  first  the  fundamental  facts  of  the  Gospel — the  things  which 
give  to  it  meaning  and  make  it  a Gospel  for  the  world. 

(1)  The  basic  fact  is  the  universal  need  of  mankind.  The  world  is  by  nature 
a lost  world,  and  it  is  only  as  this  fact  is  realized  by  the  human  mind  with  such 
distinctness  that  it  becomes  a conviction,  that  the  ideas  which  are  contained 
in  the  Gospel  have  full  value  and  power.  Christian  thinking  starts,  not  with 
individuals,  or  with  a nation  or  race,  but  with  a world  steeped  in  that  sin 
whose  end  inevitably  is  destruction.  Everywhere  graven  into  the  heart  of 
things  is  found  the  law:  “The  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die.”  Heredity, 
which  modem  science  so  emphasizes  in  relation  to  all  life,  is  simply  a new  way 
of  putting  the  old  doctrine  of  “original  sin,”  the  doctrine  which,  while  it 
recognizes  the  good  which  exists  both  in  the  individual  and  in  the  world, 
nevertheless  clearly  announces  that  the  rule  of  evil  in  human  fife,  if  a way  of 
salvation  be  not  found,  means  inevitably  deterioration,  degeneracy,  persistent 
wickedness  and  everlasting  ruin.  Men  can  no  more  save  themselves  by  their 
own  unaided  efforts  than  they  can  overcome  the  law  of  gravitation  by  trying  to 
lift  themselves  by  their  own  shoestraps.  A world  left  to  its  own  redemptive 
powers  is  a world  doomed  to  eternal  death.  The  word  “perish”  in  our  text 
is  universal  in  its  relations,  sets  forth  a need  vide  and  age-long  as  humanity, 
and  is  weighty  with  the  solemnities  of  divine  justice  and  eternal  destiny. 

(2)  The  second  fact  dealt  with  in  the  text  is  God,  who  is  the  only  source 
of  the  supply  of  the  universal  need.  The  Divine  Being  is  the  most  certain 
fact  of  the  universe,  as  He  is  likewise  its  greatest  mystery.  The  mystery  does 


but  deepen  the  impressiveness  of  the  fact,  and  it  is  one  of  the  excellencies  of  the 
Christian  faith  that  it  does  not  grope  after  God  amid  the  fogs  of  doubt,  or  the 
mists  of  philosophic  speculation,  or  the  fancies  of  a poetic  imagination,  but 
apprehends  clearly  that  infinite  being  who  is  the  Creator  and  Ruler  of  all 
things,  the  author  and  sustainer  of  all  being,  and  in  whose  goodness  the 
world  of  mankind  can  alone  find  refuge,  comfort,  strength  and  the  assurance 
of  the  supply  of  its  deepest  need,  deliverance  from  sin  and  it^ consequences. 
The  realization  of  the  existence  of  a Supreme  Being  is  at  the  basis  of  all  hope 
for  the  salvation  of  the  world,  and  is  natural  to  all  human  beings  possessed  of 
reasonably  clear  intelligence.  It  is  only  the  fool  who  hath  said  in  his  heart, 
“there  is  no  God.” 

(3)  From  thought  of  the  fact  of  God  let  us  advance  to  thought  upon  that 
which  is  the  moving  power  for  the  supply  of  human  need,  the  love  which  the 
Gospel  alone  reveals  as  an  attribute  of  the  divine  nature.  That  love  is  natural 
to  God  is  suggested  to  us  by  the  relationship  set  forth  in  the  text  between  God 
and  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  well  in  dealing  with  the  revelation  contained  in 
Scripture  to  note  how  the  family  idea  in  connection  with  God  is  one  which 
persistently  makes  its  appearance  in  the  words  of  our  Lord.  Christ  invariably 
uses,  concerning  the  relation  between  God  and  Himself,  the  word  “Father.” 
Whenever  any  Scripture  record  is  made  of  speech  on  the  part  of  God  to 
Christ,  the  sonship  of  Jesus  is  recognized  therein.  At  the  baptism  by  John  the 
Baptist,  the  voice  which  came  from  Heaven  announced  our  Lord’s  sonship  in 
definite  words,  “This  is  My  beloved  Son  in  whom  I am  well  pleased.”  A 
Father  and  an  only  begotten  Son,  such  is  the  revelation  which  the  text  makes 
as  to  the  nature  of  the  God-head.  It  reveals  the  fact  that  at  the  heart  of  the 
universe,  guiding  its  destinies,  there  has  always  been,  and  there  will  always  con- 
tinue to  be,  a gracious,  holy,  loving,  divine  household — Father,  Son  and  Holy 
Spirit.  God  is  love,  because  God  from  all  eternity  is  a Father,  and  God  loves 
the  world  because  His  is  the  heart  of  the  eternal  Father.  The  wonder,  as  we 
reflect  upon  the  social  nature  of  God,  is  that  there  arc  so  few  suggestions  in 
human  literature  of  a belief  in  the  divine  affection  for  man.  There  are  traces, 
it  is  true,  in  pagan  and  heathen  writings  of  faith  in  a great  All-Father,  caring  for 
the  many,  directing  all  lives,  and  meteing  out  at  the  close  of  life  rewards  and 
punishments.  But  providential  care  and  the  administration  of  justice  are  not 
love.  It  is  only  in  the  Scriptures  that  the  idea  of  love  in  connection  with  God 
is  communicated  to  the  minds  of  men.  And  it  is  the  Son  of  God  alone  who  in 
His  words  reveals  fully  and  clearly  the  truth  as  to  the  divine  love  for  man,  and 
emphasizes  the  fact  that  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
God  whose  goodness  is  impartial.  What  men  have  been  or  are,  in  any  and  all 
circumstances,  is  neither  a limit  upon,  nor  the  reason  for,  the  love  of  God  for 
them.  His  love  for  the  world  arises  out  of  His  nature.  God  is  love,  and 
therefore  was  and  is  it  the  fact  that,  though  the  world  was  and  is  lost  in  sin, 
though  it  merits  only  condemnation,  yet  “God  loved  the  world.” 

(4)  Consider  now  the  method  of  the  manifestation  of  the  divine  love 
toward  the  world  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ.  Gifts  gather  value  from  three 
considerations — the  character  of  the  giver,  the  need  of  the  recipients,  and  the 
nature  of  the  gift.  The  character  of  the  giver  referred  to  in  our  text  suffi- 
ciently appears  in  the  declaration  that  it  is  God,  the  infinitely  holy,  just  and 
loving  Supreme  Being.  The  world  lay  under  condemnation,  a lost  world. 
Its  supreme  need,  therefore,  wras  a Saviour  able  to  save  unto  the  uttermost, 
and  that  Saviour  God  gave  to  the  world  as  a gift.  And  what  a gift  unspeak- 

[4] 


able  He  was!  Few  indeed  are  they  among  men  and  women  who  would  give  a 
beloved  child  to  suffering  and  death  in  order  to  bring  salvation,  either  in  this 
life  or  the  life  which  is  to  come,  even  to  a friend.  But  God,  looking  upon  a 
lost  world,  a world  hostile  to  Himself  in  its  desires  and  conduct,  gave  for  its 
salvation  not  a human  being,  not  an  angel  or  an  archangel,  but  His  only 
begotten  Son.  The  gift  which  God  gave  was  the  one  being  who  was  the 
express  image  of  His  own  person,  the  brightness  of  the  divine  glory.  Never 
was  there  such  a gift,  nor  ever  will  there  be  its  duplicate.  There  is  but  one 
Christ,  there  is  but  one  only  begotten  Son  of  the  Father,  and  Him  the  Father 
gave  to  be  uplifted  upon  a Cross,  that  dying  thereon,  He  through  His  death 
might  be  “ the  propitiation  for  our  sins,  and  not  for  our’s  only,  but  also  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world.”  Bethlehem  and  Calvary  unite  in  making  Christ  as  a 
Saviour  the  all-sufficient  Saviour  for  the  world,  and  fill  with  the  radiance  of 
sunsliine  the  words,  “God  so  loved  the  world.” 

(5)  Think  next  upon  the  simplicity  and  availability  of  the  condition  of 
salvation  required  by  the  Gospel,  as  indicated  by  the  word  “believeth.”  It  is 
faith  which  is  the  one  condition  of  salvation,  and  faith  is  a simple,  natural 
operation  of  the  mind,  a receiving  and  resting  upon  Christ  alone  for  salvation, 
as  He  is  offered  in  the  Gospel.  It  is  a belief  in  His  promises  and  a looking  to 
Him  alone  for  their  fulfillment.  How  divinely  appropriate  this  condition  to 
the  nature  and  needs  of  all  men!  It  is  faith,  not  character,  that  saves;  for  if 
character  be  insisted  upon,  such  as  the  divine  law  requires,  then  no  soul  can  be 
saved.  It  is  faith  that  saves,  not  works ; for  if  works  be  the  condition  of 
salvation,  then  no  infant  dying  in  infancy  can  be  among  the  number  of  the 
elect.  It  is  faith,  not  perseverance  in  a Christian  course;  for  if  a fife  of  godly 
service  be  the  condition  of  salvation,  then  the  penitent  thief  is  not  to-day  with 
Christ  in  glory.  The  condition  of  salvation  is  solely  that  faith  which  is  the 
outgoing  of  the  heart  in  trust,  confidence  and  love  toward  Jesus  Christ,  and 
whose  results  in  human  life  are  the  good  works  to  which  believers  are  fore- 
ordained. 

(6)  Note  further  the  Gospel’s  universal  proffer  of  salvation  contained  in 
the  words  “whosoever  believeth.”  Calvin,  in  his  commentary’  on  the  Gospel 
of  John,  writes  concerning  the  words  of  Christ  in  the  text  in  the  following 
manner:  “And  He  has  employed  the  universal  term  ‘whosoever’  both  to 
invite  all  indiscriminately  to  partake  of  fife  and  to  cut  off  every  excuse  from 
unbelievers.  Such  is  also  the  import  of  the  term  ‘world’  which  He  formerly 
used;  for  though  nothing  will  be  found  in  the  world  that  is  worthy  of  the  favor 
of  God,  yet  He  shows  Himself  to  be  reconciled  to  the  whole  world  when  He 
invites  all  men  without  exception  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  which  is  nothing  else 
than  an  entrance  into  fife.”  There  are  no  discriminations  known  to  Christ  in 
connection  with  the  offer  of  His  salvation.  He  wiio  gathered  up  little  children 
in  His  human  arms  in  Palestine  welcomes  all  infants  to  His  everlasting  divine 
embrace;  He  who  forgave  a Magdalen  of  old  in  Palestine  will  not  turn  away 
any  sinner,  however  far  he  may  have  wandered  from  his  God ; He  who  forgave 
such  a persecutor  as  Paul,  whose  hands  wrere  red  with  the  blood  of  the  saints, 
can  take  any  man,  however  great  his  sins,  and  make  of  him  an  apostle  of 
righteousness.  Christ  has  saved  in  the  past  men  of  all  classes  and  conditions, 
of  all  races,  and  out  of  all  lands,  and  as  in  the  past,  so  in  the  present,  and 
throughout  the  future,  wherever  man  is  found,  the  call  of  the  Gospel  will  be 
heard  declaring  that  “whosoever  believeth  shall  not  perish,  but  have  everlast- 
ing life.” 


[5] 


How  great  beyond  all  comprehension  these  facts  and  ideas  of  the  text ! 
They  are  full  of  the  love  divine,  all  loves  excelling,  and  include  within  then- 
sweep  all  mankind.  Recognizing  the  universal  need,  they  bid  mankind 
look  to  God  for  its  supply,  reveal  the  love  of  God  as  the  moving  power  for 
human  salvation,  proclaim  Jesus  Christ  as  the  only,  the  all-sufficient  and  the 
divine  Saviour  of  sinners,  require  as  a condition  of  salvation  faith  in  Christ  and 
faith  alone,  and  proffer  salvation  to  “whosoever  believeth.”  Only  God  could 
thus  provide  salvation  for  sinful  man,  and  only  the  divine  Saviour  can  thus 
save.  These  ideas  further  emphasize  the  fact  that  God’s  relation  to  this  lost 
world  is  a personal  and  loving  relation,  that  it  touches  every  human  soul,  and 
that  its  visible  and  constant  manifestation  is  in  the  person  of  the  only  begotten 
Son.  In  this  world  of  ours  there  has  been  and  there  is,  since  Bethlehem,  Calvary 
and  Olivet,  a mysterious  and  mighty,  a spiritual  and  intensely  vital  force:  Godin 
Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself.  The  ideas  which  are  the  power  of 
the  Gospel  find  their  source,  their  life  and  their  efficiency  in  the  divine  Almighty 
Saviour. 

II.  We  pass  now  to  thought  of  the  nature  and  influence  of  the  blessing 
which  the  Gospel  bestows  upon  the  world.  This  is  set  forth  in  the  text  under 
the  expression  “everlasting  life.”  Tins  life  as  to  its  nature  is  the  life  of  God 
within  the  soul  of  man,  and  it  has  relations  both  to  the  world  that  now  is  and 
the  world  which  is  to  come.  It  is  not  a something  into  whose  possession  men 
are  to  enter  in  the  future  which  lies  beyond  the  grave.  Our  Saviour’s  own 
words  are  explicit:  “He  that  believeth  in  me  hath  everlasting  life.”  The  life 
which  God  proffers  through  His  only  begotten  Son  to  a world  lost  in  sin  and 
subject  to  eternal  death  is  a life  which  follows  immediately  upon  faith,  and 
whose  benefits  are  in  part  enjoyed  upon  earth.  The  fullness  of  that  condition 
which  is  set  forth  by  the  words  “everlasting  life”  can  be  comprehended  ade- 
quately only  in  Heaven,  when  the  redeemed  soul  shall  come  into  direct  con- 
tact with  those  things  which  eye  hath  not  seen  or  ear  heard,  but  which  God  has 
prepared  for  them  that  love  Him.  But  even  here  and  now  that  eternal  life, 
which  is  the  life  of  God,  is  communicated  by  Christ  to  believers,  and  brings 
forth  upon  earth  abounding  blessings  for  the  individual  and  for  the 
world. 

The  first  duty  of  Christians  and  of  the  Christian  Church  is  to  get  men  right 
with  God.  That  is  accomplished  when,  by  the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel  and 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  faith  in  Christ  enters  into  a human  heart,  and 
brings  in  its  train  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  adoption  into  the  household  of 
God,  the  unchangeable  divine  favor,  and  an  eternal  salvation.  But  getting 
right  with  God  has  large  and  lasting  effects  in  the  earthly  life  of  man — effects 
that  are  the  visible  evidence  of  the  character  of  the  Gospel  as  a Gospel  for  the 
world.  Think  in  this  connection  upon  the  first  conquests  of  the  Gospel. 

That  pagan  world  into  which  Christ  was  born  was  a world  in  which  a single 
power  ruled,  the  Roman  Empire.  There  was  in  its  political  and  commercial 
relations  the  quality  of  universality.  Paul  describes  its  deplorable  moral  con- 
ditions in  the  first  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  Its  social  condition 
was  that  of  a ruling  caste,  comparatively  few  in  numbers,  controlling  abso- 
lutely with  the  power  of  life  and  death  vast  multitudes  of  slaves,  both  white 
and  black.  Its  spiritual  condition  was  hopeless,  for  lust  in  its  worst  forms 
had  been  deified  and  was  worshiped.  To  put  it  briefly,  a few  ruled  the 
many,  property  was  vested  in  those  who  held  the  sword,  poverty  was  a 
crime,  slavery  was  the  almost  universal  condition,  vice  was  esteemed  a virtue 

[6] 


and  lust  was  worshiped.  Over  it  appeared  to  be  permanently  written  “with- 
out hope  and  without  God.” 

Into  that  world  Christianity  entered.  Its  adherents  at  first  were  a few 
thousand  despised  Jews,  more  hated  then  than  now.  Even  these  early  dis- 
ciples, the  Apostle  Peter  among  them,  did  not  readily  yield  to  the  idea  of  the 
Gospel  as  a world  Gospel.  They  failed  to  appreciate  the  fact  that  its  message 
because  it  was  divine  had  in  it  the  quality  of  universality,  and  they  debated 
fiercely  whether  the  Gentiles  were  objects  of  God’s  love  and  Christ’s  salvation. 
But  Jewish  prejudices  melted  in  the  warmth  of  divine  love,  and  then  came  the 
first  Christian  evangelistic  campaign,  led  by  one  who  had  been  a persecutor, 
and  there  burst  suddenly  upon  an  idolatrous  empire,  worshiping  numerous 
deities,  the  thought  of  one  God,  a Supreme  and  Infinite  Being,  who  so  loved 
the  whole  world  that  He  gave  Ilis  only  begotten  Son  lor  its  salvation. 

To  the  new  thought  of  God  was  added  a new  thought  of  man.  Christ 
revealed  God  not  only  as  interested  in  man,  not  only  as  sympathizing  with 
him  in  his  sin  and  sorrow,  but  as  bound  to  him  by  the  close  tie  of  father- 
hood. Man  was  a prodigal,  but  he  was  nevertheless  a child,  and  then  out 
of  the  thought  of  man’s  potential  relation  to  God  there  sprang  an  increasing 
sense  of  human  brotherhood,  a realization  of  the  meaning  and  value  of  the 
soul,  the  consciousness  that  man  was  born  for  something  higher  than  this  life 
of  earth — all  the  ideas  which  are  at  the  basis  of  a better,  grander  and  holier 
human  life.  To  these  new  thoughts  was  added  a new  idea  of  service  alike  to 
God  and  to  man.  Life  on  earth  was  revealed  to  be  both  a trust  for  this  world 
and  a preparation  for  the  world  which  is  to  come.  To  live  was  to  serve,  and  to 
serve  was  to  live.  The  potent  truths  of  the  divine  Fatherhood  and  of  human 
brotherhood  uniting  to  produce  the  Christlike  life,  wrought  increasingly 
through  the  first  three  centuries  in  the  disciples  of  Christ  a fashion  of  conduct 
and  a frame  of  mind  that  gave  to  our  religion  an  aggressive  and  all-conquering 
moral  power.  Xot  by  might  nor  by  power,  but  through  the  teaching  and  lives 
of  His  disciples,  Christ  lifted  His  own  life  upon  that  ancient  world,  as  the  sun 
lifts  itself  at  dawn  upon  the  earth,  scattering  the  forces  of  darkness  before  its 
advance.  A new  life  stirred  within  the  great  empire,  and  an  abiding  hope 
lifted  upon  men  in  many  lands  the  light  of  heaven.  The  selfish  and  bestial 
gods  of  the  Pantheon  fled  forever  from  the  sky  of  human  life,  and  in  their  stead 
was  enthroned  Him  who  is  the  life  and  light  of  the  world,  and  with  Him  came 
into  the  world,  right  views  of  God,  true  appreciation  of  man,  the  Christian 
home,  Christian  standards  of  conduct,  and  all  the  other  inestimable  bless- 
ings of  our  holy  religion 

What  of  our  modern  world?  Earnest  Christians  often  question  to-day 
as  to  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  toward  world  sovereignty.  Consider  concisely 
the  situation.  The  modern  world  has  in  its  life  the  quality  of  universality  far 
beyond  any  previous  age  in  human  history,  for  material  progress  has  trans- 
formed it  into  a neighborhood,  records  its  affairs  in  the  columns  of  a daily 
newspaper,  and  brings  to  numberless  hearthstones  the  blessings  of  civiliza- 
tion. In  this  modern  world  we  find,  further,  that  the  ideas  of  the  Gospel  are 
fundamental  in  many  lands  to  all  individual -conduct,  to  the  relations  of  social 
classes  each  to  the  other,  to  the  transaction  of  business,  to  plans  for  the  uplift- 
ing of  the  masses,  the  education  of  the  people,  the  care  of  the  poor,  the  infirm 
and  the  sick,  and  to  all  the  interests  connected  along  social  and  economic  lines 
with  the  welfare  of  humanity. 

In  our  own  land  as  well  as  in  Europe,  whatever  may  be  the  conduct  of 

[7] 


individuals,  and  however  deep  the  seeming  chasm  between  class  and  class, 
yet  the  standards  of  right  and  wrong  and  the  moulding  power  of  public  opinion 
are  largely  controlled  by  Christian  ideas.  Time  was  when  individual  men  and 
women  were  generally  indifferent  to  the  conditions  of  the  life  of  their  neighbors, 
and  when  the  relationship  between  social  classes  was  of  the  sharpest  and  at 
times  of  the  bitterest  kind.  But  a vast  change  has  come  over  modern  society. 
There  is  everywhere  an  upward  lift,  everywhere  a realizing  sense  of  the  brother- 
hood of  man,  and  everywhere  a belief  that  unseen  yet  omnipotent  forces  are- 
moulding  all  human  society.  The  world  of  mankind  realizes  its  oneness  in 
circumstances  and  in  hope  as  never  before. 

Nations  likewise,  as  well  as  individuals,  have  come  under  the  control  of  the 
beneficent  ideas  contained  in  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  There  is  an  increasing 
sense  of  fellowship  between  peoples  hitherto  alien.  War,  it  is  true,  still  at 
times  lifts  its  horrid  front  and  brings  in  its  train  incalculable  evils;  but  there  is 
everywhere  a growing  feeling  against  the  use  of  war  as  a method  for  the  settle- 
ment of  differences  between  nations,  and  such  gatherings  as  The  Hague  Confer- 
ence are  distinctly  the  witness  to  the  recognition  of  His  authority  who  is  the 
Prince  of  Peace.  It  is  true  that  evil  still  controls  multitudes  of  individual 
men  and  women,  that  nations  bearing  the  Christian  name  are  to  a large  extent 
in  the  conduct  of  their  affairs  manifesting  any  other  spirit  than  that  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  but  nevertheless  it  is  also  true  that  never  was  there  so  much  good- 
ness in  the  world,  and  that  this  goodness  finds  at  once  its  source,  its  center  and 
its  strength  in  Him  who  is  "the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life.” 

The  ideas  of  the  Gospel  further  are  realized  to-day  by  the  Churches  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  a striking  manner.  They  have  greater  recognition  on  the  part 
of  the  Churches  than  through  any  purely  social  movements  or  the  action  of 
any  government.  This  is  but  natural,  for  the  universal  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  direct  witness  in  every  portion  of  the  world  to  His  saving  and 
uplifting  power.  Society  and  government  to  a large  extent  bear  indirect 
testimony  to  our  Lord’s  influence,  but  the  Church  speaks  everywhere  in  direct 
terms  concerning  Him  as  Saviour  of  the  world.  There  have  always  been 
within  the  Church  sensitive  souls  who  have  realized  clearly  the  Church’s  one 
great  mission,  the  salvation  of  the  world,  but  it  is  only  within  the  past  one 
hundred  years  that  the  thought  of  the  redemption  and  the  uplifting  of  all 
humanity,  both  for  earth  and  heaven,  has  entered  largely  into  its  prac- 
tical life. 

To  this  trend  God  has  responded  mightily  by  His  spirit.  During  the  past 
century,  how  vast  the  progress  everywhere  in  connection  with  foreign  missions; 
how  steady  and  persistent  the  effort  to  uplift  morally  and  spiritually  in  the 
home  lands  the  multitudes  who  have  been  as  sheep  without  a shepherd;  how 
the  Church  is  addressing  herself  to  all  classes  and  to  all  conditions,  and  how, 
above  all,  Christians  are  realizing  their  unity  in  Jesus  Christ!  The  beats  of  the 
mighty  heart  of  the  King  of  Redemption  are  seen  in  every  movement  within 
the  Churches,  whether  concerned  with  missionary  effort  or  with  work  in 
Christian  lands,  or  with  the  relationship  of  the  Christian  denominations  each 
to  the  other.  Christendom,  and  especially  American  Christendom,  was  never 
so  much  a unit  as  it  is  to-day  in  the  apprehension  of  the  one  great  purpose  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  And  as  a result  we  see  in  many  lands  those  elevated  and 
noble  forms  of  benevolent  Christian  activity  which  so  markedly  contrast  the 
opening  years  of  this  century  with  all  that  has  gone  before.  As  the  sun  can 
turn  the  ice  of  winter  into  running  brooks,  so  the  love  of  God  the  Father,  the 

[8] 


grace  of  Christ  the  Elder  Brother,  and  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Spirit  the 
Life  Giver,  have  turned  the  chill  selfishness,  natural  to  countless  men  and 
women,  into  rippling  streams  of  kindliness,  usefulness  and  blessing,  which 
have  brought  salvation,  joy  and  immeasurable  earthly  happiness  to  unnum- 
bered hearts  and  lives  throughout  the  whole  world. 

Inspiring  are  the  past  triumphs  of  the  Gospel,  and  hopeful  the  outlook 
for  its  progress  along  both  earthly  and  heavenly  lines  of  advance.  It  shall 
one  day  make  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  the  kingdoms  of  our  God  and  His 
Christ,  and  shall  fill  Heaven  with  a multitude  that  no  man  can  number,  out 
of  every  nation,  kindred,  people  and  tongue,  redeemed  by  the  Saviour’s  blood 
and  sanctified  by  His  Spirit.  “Not  unto  us,  O Lord!  not  unto  us,  but  to  Thy 
name  give  glory,  for  Thy  mercy  and  for  Thy  truth’s  sake.” 

III.  Consider  finally  the  obligations  imposed  by  the  Gospel,  which  are 
heightened  by  the  hopeful  conditions  of  the  present  century.  These  obliga- 
tions are  imperative  in  their  nature.  They  spring  out  of  the  fundamental 
facts  and  ideas  contained  in  the  text.  All  who  profess  to  believe  in  Jesus 
Clirist  as  their  Saviour  and  Lord  have  acknowledged  by  such  profession  the 
binding  nature  of  these  obligations,  and  having  within  their  hearts  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Gospel  should  make  its  truths  the  controlling  principles  of  their 
lives.  - 

One  of  these  truths  has  to  do  with  the  value  of  the  human  soul.  The 
relation  of  the  soul  to  God  and  the  destiny  of  the  soul  are  increasingly  matters 
of  deep  moment  to  thoughtful  persons.  For  the  salvation  of  the  soul  Christ 
died  upon  His  Cross,  and  by  virtue  of  the  power  of  His  Crown  He  is  prepared 
to  bestow  upon  every  believer  the  gift  of  eternal  life.  As  Christians  think 
upon  man  the  immortal,  in  the  light  of  Christ’s  person  and  work,  they  are 
obligated  increasingly  to  realize  that  the  value  of  each  human  soul  is  to  be 
measured  only  by  the  blood  drops  of  the  sacrifice  of  Calvary,  and  that  the 
supreme  obligation  of  the  Gospel  for  the  world,  whose  preachers  and  teachers 
they  are,  is  the  proffer  to  every  creature  of  that  everlasting  life  which  Jesus 
purchased  with  blood  upon  His  Cross. 

Another  truth  which  is  to  control  Christian  conduct  is  that  which  has  to  do 
with  the  value  of  character.  The  agreement  is  general  that  no  other  force  is 
so  powerful  as  Christian  character  in  the  dissemination  of  the  Gospel.  The 
unthinking  may  not  be  convinced  by  argument,  and  the  thoughtful  may  vigor- 
ously resist  the  inferences  of  logic,  but  neither  class  can  successfully  oppose 
the  proof  furnished  by  the  moral  and  spiritual  renewal  of  individuals.  It  is  the 
character  of  the  individuals  who  make  up  communities  and  nations,  that 
determines  their  welfare  and  destiny,  politically,  ’commercially,  socially, 
morally  and  spiritually.  Christians,  loving  the  world  in  some  measure  as 
Christ  loved  it,  and  longing  for  its  welfare  as  He  longs,  should  see  to  it  there- 
fore that,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  there  be  added  to  Christian  evangelism 
the  power  of  Christian  education.  These  two  forms  of  effort  are  simply  the 
recognition  of  Christ’s  two  great  commands:  first,  “Go  ye  into  all  the  world 
and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature”;  and,  second,  “Go  ye  therefore  and 
teach  all  nations.”  Christians  are  not  only  to  evangelize,  but  also  to  educate. 
The  Gospel  for  the  world  is  a Gospel  by  which  there  is  to  be  added  to  faith 
knowledge,  and  to  knowledge  all  the  other  Christian  virtues. 

Another  obligation  has  to  do  with  the  attitude  of  Christians  toward  the 
world  at  large.  This  attitude  should  be  that  of  God  in  Christ,  the  attitude  of 
disinterestedness,  of  sincere  affection;  if  need  be,  of  devotion  to  the  welfare 

[9] 


of  others,  even  unto  self-sacrifice.  The  Christian  who  is  close  to  Christ  loves 
the  world  as  God  loves  it,  sees  in  every  human  being  an  object  of  divine  love, 
and  regards  no  person  as  shut  out  from  the  potencies  of  Christ’s  salvation. 
Such  a Christian  will  make  the  “whosoever  believeth”  of  the  text  a reality 
in  his  prayer  and  work,  seeking  ever  to  bring  the  Gospel  to  lost  sinners  of 
whatever  race,  class  or  condition,  and  rejoicing  to  behold  them  receiving  the 
earthly  blessings  which  follow  its  acceptance,  assured  that  theirs  shall  also  be 
the  joys  which  are  for  evermore  at  God’s  right  hand. 

The  obligations  of  the  Gospel  further  have  to  do  not  only  with  Christians 
individually,  but  also  with  Christian  Churches.  It  is  certain  that  the  test 
of  the  nearness  to  God  of  any  Christian  Church  is  the  extent  to  which  in  its 
life  it  puts  the  Gospel  into  effect  in  its  organization  and  work.  Much  is  said 
nowadays  about  the  Apostolic  Church  in  some  quarters,  and  the  declaration  is 
often  upon  the  lips  of  many,  “I  believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church.”  But 
the  Church  nearest  the  Apostolic,  and  the  one  most  truly  Catholic,  is  the  one 
which  most  fully  realizes  in  its  own  life  and  work  the  love  of  God  for  His 
world,  the  devotion  of  Christ  to  the  world,  and  the  duty  of  the  Church  to 
carry  the  message  of  saving  divine  love  to  the  world. 

True  Apostolicity  and  Catholicity  are  characteristics  of  the  inward  rather 
than  the  outward  life;  they  are  vital  rather  than  formal;  they  partake  of  the 
spirit  rather  than  of  the  letter.  Thoughtful  Christians  do  not  esteem  lightly 
the  external  and  formal  things  in  religion.  Those  persons  understand  little  of 
God  or  of  man,  of  the  divine  or  of  human  nature,  who  depreciate  creeds,  or 
church  order,  or  forms  of  worship  or  denominational  activities.  These  all  are 
outward  manifestations  of  inward  needs,  adaptations  of  liidden  spiritual  forces 
in  visible  form  to  satisfy  the  multiform  demands  of  human  nature,  and  to  give 
full  scope  to  the  energies  of  men  and  women.  Even  things  which  some  persons 
regard  as  superstitious  God  tolerates  in  His  service,  if  only,  despite  sluggish 
minds  and  dim  eyes,  the  hearts  of  those  who  thus  grope  blindly  after  God, 
have  within  them  as  a controlling  and  directing  power  love  for  their  fellow- 
men.  The  test  of  that  vital  Catholicity,  which  is  the  true  glory  of  any  Chris- 
tian Church,  is  ever  its  loyalty  to  the  love  for  the  world  which  led  Christ  to  the 
Cross  on  Calvary,  and  which  made  Him  the  Almighty  Saviour  of  sinners.  A 
really  Catholic  Church  will  be  an  intensely  evangelistic  and  missionary 
Church. 

All  these  obligations  have  not  only  general  but  likewise  special  relations. 
While  the  duty  is  unquestionable  on  the  part  of  Christians  and  Christian 
Churches  to  give  the  Gospel  to  the  world  in  the  uttermost  parts,  special 
emphasis  should  be  laid  upon  the  obligations  connected  with  the  immediate 
environment.  Our  Lord  gave  command  that  his  disciples,  beginning  at 
Jerusalem,  should  be  witnesses  for  Him  in  Judea,  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  His  emphasis  upon  the  thought  that  the  work 
of  the  Apostolic  Church  was  to  begin  at  Jerusalem  was  remarkably  confirmed 
by  the  great  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  at  Pentecost.  That  first  great 
revival  wTas  the  beginning  of  the  wrork  which  was  to  reach  through  Judea  to 
Samaria,  and  thus  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  One  man  who  knew 
personally  what  that  revival  in  Jerusalem  was,  as  to  its  features  and  effects, 
has  left  on  record,  in  his  first  Epistle  to  Timothy,  the  conviction  that  he  who 
provideth  not  for  his  own  “hath  denied  the  faith  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel.” 
These  declarations  of  Christ  and  of  Paul  emphasize  the  need  resting  upon  the 
American  Christian  Churches  to  give  increasing  efficiency  to  the  great  ideas  of 

[ 10] 


the  Gospel  within  the  land  in  which  God  has  placed  them.  They  are  called  to 
act  upon  the  truth  that  the  world,  for  whose  salvation  the  Gospel  exists, 
includes  the  communities  and  countries  in  which  they  live — means  Kansas  City 
as  well  as  Pekin,  the  United  States  as  well  as  Cliina. 

Especially  do  I press  home  through  this  General  Assembly  upon  the 
Church  of  our  choice  this  closest  duty  connected  with  the  Gospel.  Our  coun- 
try in  the  present  time  stands  for  great  ideas,  socially,  commercially  and 
politically.  Above  every  other  nation  of  modern  times,  the  United  States  is 
a part  of  those  widespreading  movements  which  are  uplifting  men  out  of  the 
narrowness  of  caste,  which  are  making  the  world  a neighborhood,  and  wliich 
seek  for  the  welfare,  not  of  a class  or  classes,  but  of  the  whole  people.  Further, 
when  we  come  to  think  of  the  destinies  of  the  world,  there  is  common  consent 
that  no  nation  is  more  intimately  connected  therewith  for  either  weal  or  woe 
than  our  own.  America  has  increasingly  vital  relations  to  the  welfare  of  the 
world  of  mankind. 

Further,  in  this  land  to-day  the  American  Churches  confront  conditions  of 
a notable  character.  The  world  wliich  God  loves  is  in  a striking  sense  repre- 
sented within  our  borders.  Its  multitudes  are  pouring  into  every  corner  of 
the  country.  The  populations  of  Europe,  in  particular,  are  accessible  through 
us  to  the  influences  of  the  Gospel  in  a marked  manner.  So  vast  is  the  move- 
ment that  it  can  be  said,  as  was  said  at  Pentecost,  that  men  out  of  every  nation 
under  heaven  are  in  our  midst.  These  are  far,  however,  from  being  devout. 

Opposed  to  the  Christian  Churches  in  our  country  are  to  be  found  many 
evil  influences.  There  is  the  irreligion  of  the  average  immigrant,  the  presence 
of  an  inordinate  commercial  spirit,  the  Gallio-like  attitude  of  a majority  of  our 
political  leaders,  who  care  for  no  religious  opinion  whatever,  but  solely  for  self, 
and,  above  all,  the  practical  unbelief  of  the  majority  of  American  men.  We 
are  a Christian  nation,  but  only  because  three-fourths  of  our  women  are 
Cliristians.  Everywhere  there  is  the  need,  whether  we  have  regard  to  our 
native  population  or  the  foreign  immigrant,  for  persistent,  united,  evangelistic 
and  educational  work. 

We  emphasize,  however,  the  duty  of  evangelism,  for  it  conies  first  in  order. 
By  evangelism  is  to  be  understood  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  by  the  Christian 
ministry  in  its  simplicity  and  integrity.  A pure  Gospel,  preached  with  earn- 
estness and  sincerity,  is  the  deepest  need  of  our  country.  Would  we  secure 
the  true  economic  interests  of  our  nation  and  abate  the  rancor  of  social  classes, 
we  must  evangelize.  Would  we  increase  the  manifestations  of  righteousness 
in  high  and  low  places  alike,  and  make  both  our  business  and  our  politics 
Christian,  we  must  evangelize.  Would  we  secure  the  best  results  from  our 
educational  systems,  and  so  adjust  all  our  national  interests  as  to  conserve, 
alike  for  the  welfare  of  humanity  and  the  success  of  the  cause  of  Christ  in  the 
earth,  all  the  resources  of  this  great  nation,  we  must  evangelize.  We  must  go 
forth  everywhere  under  the  influence  of  the  love  for  the  world  of  God  the 
Father,  and  of  the  saving  power  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  and  all-sufficient 
Divine  Saviour,  proffering  unto  every  creature  that  salvation  which  is  profit- 
able both  for  the  life  that  now  is  and  for  the  life  that  is  to  come.  We  must 
unceasingly  strive  to  win  America  for  Christ  through  the  Gospel,  that  we  may 
thereby  win  the  world  for  Him. 

May  God  enable  us,  with  all  Christians  in  this  land,  to  live  and  labor  in 
obedience  to  our  Lord’s  last  command.  Beginning  in  that  community  which 
is  our  Jerusalem,  reaching  out  toward  that  State  which  is  our  Judea,  seeking 

[11] 


for  the  salvation  of  that  class,  race  or  nation  towards  which  we  feel  within 
our  hearts  such  sentiments  as  the  Jews  cherished  for  the  Samaritans,  may  we 
unitedly  and  aggressively  in  this  hopeful  century  so  witness  for  Christ,  so 
preach  and  teach  His  gospel,  that  ere  long  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth 
shall  bow  at  His  Cross  and  acknowledge  His  sovereignty. 

There  is  a picture  of  Sargent’s  in  the  Boston  Public  Library  that  has 
touched  to  the  heart  depths  all  classes  and  conditions  of  people  who  have 
looked  upon  it.  Called  the  “Dogma  of  Redemption,”  it  is  a picture  of  Christ 
upon  the  Cross.  Bound  up  with  him  by  a common  girdle,  on  the  one  side  is 
Adam,  the  father  of  all  humanity;  on  the  other  is  Eve,  the  mother  of  all  the 
race.  Each  holds  out  the  loving  cup  to  catch  the  drops  of  blood  from  the 
pierced  hands  of  the  Saviour.  That  cleansing  blood  of  the  Cross  is  the  hope 
of  the  world.  It  is  the  crucified  Christ  alone  who  is  the  power  of  God  and  the 
wisdom  of  God  unto  salvation,  both  for  earth  and  for  heaven.  God  is  in 
Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself,  not  imputing  their  trespasses  unto 
them,  and  hath  committed  unto  us  the  ministry  of  reconciliation.  Never 
was  there  a time  when  the  work  of  reconciliation  was  so  full  of  hope.  Faithful 
to  our  ministry  then  may  we  be  in  every  hour,  true  always  in  preaching,  in 
teaching,  and  in  work  to  the  words  of  our  living  Lord,  “God  so  loved  the 
world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.” 


['12] 


